QPR boss Harry Redknapp planning January raid on Tottenham for English trio

New QPR boss Harry Redknapp has made a loan deal for Tottenham midfielder Scott Parker his priority.

The Rangers boss has already identified that his new side lack leadership on the pitch and Parker – his captain during his reign as Tottenham boss – is seen as the ideal player to beef up the dressing room with some bulldog spirit.

Parker is currently recovering from surgery on an Achilles tendon injury and hasn’t played at all since England’s Euro 2012 quarter-final defeat by Italy in Kiev in June.

The 2011 Footballer Of The Year had surgery in early August and, although he was due back in mid-September, his recovery has been slow.

It’s believed Parker isn’t in the long-term plans of Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas who wants to reduce the age profile of his squad. Parker is on £70,000 a week and chairman Daniel Levy is keen to get him off the wage bill if he isn’t going to figure in AVB’s line-up.

That leaves the way clear for Redknapp to make a bid for his former skipper although a loan deal might be the more viable option for QPR while their future remains uncertain.

Redknapp could make a triple raid on White Hart Lane with striker Jermain Defoe and defender Michael Dawson also on his wish-list.

Harry Redknapp has been in the QPR job a matter of hours and already the 65-year-old is being linked with half of Tottenham’s squad, with English trio Scott Parker, Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson all said to be on ‘Arry’s January shopping list.

Redknapp has a reputation for targeting players he’s worked with in the past. After all, the Londoner signed both Defoe and Peter Crouch for Portsmouth and Tottenham, while Younes Kaboul is another player to have been signed twice by Redknapp.

The chances of Defoe joining his mentor for a third spell seems unlikely, however. The England international signed a new deal in the summer and has firmly established himself as a favourite of Andre Villas-Boas at White Hart Lane. The 30-year-old bagged his 9th and 10th goals of the season in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa.

With Emmanuel Adebayor, who is also reportedly wanted by Redknapp, off to the African Cup of Nations in January, Villas-Boas would be mad to let Defoe leave Tottenham.

Dawson, however, looks likely to swap North London for West. The centre-half was targeted by Redknapp’s predecessor Mark Hughes and the Hoops had an £8m bid accepted by Spurs in August, only for Dawson to decide to stay in N17.

But the centre-half has started just one league game under AVB and, with Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Kaboul returning to fitness, his chances are likely to be further limited in the New Year.

Parker’s future at Tottenham is not so easy to call. The 31-year-old has been injured ever since AVB took the reigns at Spurs but was one of the club’s players of the season last term.

AVB is a big fan of Brazilian enforcer Sandro, who has stepped out from Parker’s shadow this season and it remains to be seen if the England star has a place in the new regime at Spurs. Watch this space.

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